Funds Tagged For Textbooks

School Board To Return Surplus To Town

ENFIELD — - The board of education recently decided to return surplus funds from the 2007-08 budget year to the town so they can be used to buy textbooks in the coming year.

Board Chairman Andre Greco said the school system had $150,000 left at the end of the year and decided to give $100,000 back to the town rather than spend it before the budget year ran out.

The board of education has a gentlemen's agreement with the town council to put the money in a capital improvement account that can roll over to the next budget year. The money will be used to buy textbooks with $150,000 already allotted in 2008-09 budget, Greco said.

"This $100,000 is going to give us a quarter of a million dollars to spend next year," Greco said. "That will go a long way to meeting the amount of textbooks we need."

The school system has been behind in purchasing textbooks and in 2006-07, the town council set aside more than $300,000 for buying new books. The town council had to approve any purchases over $10,400.

Board member Judith Apruzzese-Desroches said asking the town council to put the money aside is a good idea because school officials have no contingency to save unspent money. Everyone can benefit from having the money available for the books, she added.

The other $50,000 will be split evenly between Enfield and Enrico Fermi high schools for projects students had asked board members to take care of, Greco said. During the past school year, board members chose days to visit the schools and let students come and talk to them about anything.

The students asked for items such as audio and lighting equipment in auditoriums and improvements in bathrooms. Some of the ideas for using the money came from those meetings, Greco said.